Learning Objectives Define culture and levels of culture Explain how culture develops Describe the major frameworks for explaining the cultures of different societies Discuss the relation of culture to the study of OB Debate the issue of cultural convergence Vs. divergence IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 2

What is Culture? A way of life of a group of people That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by people as members of society Everything that people have, think, and do as members of society IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 3

Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Variations in Values Orientations Framework to describe how different societies cope with various issues or problems Includes six value orientations A culture may prefer one or more variations of a value orientation IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 7

Masculinity vs. Femininity Masculinity culture countries strive for a performance society In Boy Scouts movement, a book was called “Rovering to Success” Femininity culture countries for a welfare society When translated to Dutch, it is “Roving on the road to Happiness” IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 11

To help the poor Austria spent. 24% of the GNP Norway spent 1. 12% of the GND IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 12

Embeddedness Versus Autonomy Embeddedness: People view others as inherently part of collectives Meaning in life comes from social relationships, identification with the group, and participation in shared way of life and goals. Value social order, respect for tradition, security and wisdom. Autonomy: Individuals are seen as autonomous, bounded entities who find meaning in their own uniqueness Intellectual autonomy - people follow their own ideas and value curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness Affective autonomy - individuals independently pursue positive experiences that make them feel good IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 16

Hierarchy Versus Egalitarianism Hierarchy Use a social system with clearly defined roles to make sure people behave responsibly Egalitarianism Think of each other as moral equals sharing basic human interests IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 17

Mastery Versus Harmony Mastery Encourages people to master, change, and exploit the natural and social environment for personal or group goals. Harmony Emphasizes understanding and fitting in with the environment, rather than trying to change it. IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 18

Trompenaars’ Dimensions of Culture Dimensions represent how societies develop approaches to managing problems and difficult situations Over a 14 year period, data collected from over 46, 000 managers representing more than 40 national cultures Identified six cultural dimensions IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 19

Ronen and Shenkar’s Country Clusters Within each cluster, countries generally have similar work values, geographic location, language and religion; Similarity of countries and clusters are associated with economic levels, with countries higher on GNP per capita located closer to the center; There are independent countries not fit into any cluster, and not similar to each other, but they are likely more economically and technologically developed than their geographic neighbors. IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 22

The World Values Survey Study of sociocultural and political change Collected data from more than 65 societies Four waves of data collection: 1981, 1990 -1991, 1995 -1996, and 1999 -2001 IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 24

Traditional Vs. Secular-Rational Orientations Toward Authority Traditional values reflect pre-industrial society and the centrality of the family Importance of God, obedience, religious faith over independence and determination Absolute standards of good and evil Support deference to authority National pride and nationalistic outlook Secular-rational values have opposite preferences IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 25

Survival Vs. Self-Expression Values Survival values Priority on economic and physical security over self-expression and quality of life Self-expression values Priority on self-expression and quality of life Generational differences in values Higher in ex-communist societies and advanced industrial democracies Lower in developing and low income societies IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 26

Gannon’s Cultural Metaphors Identifies an important phenomenon, activity, or institution that members of a culture see as important as a metaphor for that culture Helps outsiders to describe and understand the essential features of a society IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 27

Cultural Metaphors Country Metaphor England Germany Italy Japan Nigeria Russia Turkey United States the traditional British house the symphony the opera the garden the marketplace the ballet the coffeehouse football IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 28

American Football and the U. S. Corporate Culture Members of the team come together and decide what to do as a group Individuals receive rewards based on individual performance and contribution to the team A masculinity culture that emphasis “tough values” such as “Competition” IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 29

Implications for Managers Understanding culture is important even in one’s home country Organization’s stakeholders could be from another culture Need to look for underlying cultural meanings IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 34